A Knife in the Hand
by AceandShadow
Summary: It's Araeya and Kallori's first Dawning together and Araeya wants to make a present for Kallori, but Kallori has other ideas and she begins sneaking around and hiding things from Araeya, making her wonder if her present will even mean anything by the end of the holiday


It was the first Dawning since Araeya had finally told Kallori that she liked her. Granted, it wasn't quite the way she'd expected it would pan out what with being shot protecting her from Mara, a fucked up jail break and being taken to 'court' for everything she'd done, but she figured it had to happen one way or another. She'd spent long enough trying only to be thrown off cliffs, end up swallowing a few Nova Bombs, having a Dust Rock Blues up her arse and just being plain ignored, so she was willing to take whatever she got.

Either way, Araeya felt that it was time to express her feelings in a way that words couldn't, and she decided that the Dawning was the best time to do it. She would get Kallori a Dawning gift, however; it couldn't be just a generic gift like those Golden Age trinkets they learnt about. No, she decided she would make one with her own hands. The only problem was that she wasn't the…handiest of people. She lacked the precision required for something as delicate as a hand-made gift. Nonetheless, she would try.

A few days had gone by and Araeya couldn't think of anything. Warlocks don't carry knives with them, and they don't have spring-loaded boots. She didn't want to make her a helmet because that was a responsibility that she couldn't handle – especially if it wasn't good enough for combat. Kallori was also quite particular about guns, so she didn't want to make one and she couldn't afford to have Banshee-44 make one, either.

Araeya was stumped. What _the fuck_ was she supposed to do?

One night, Kallori came home later than usual and didn't say much before she disappeared into their basement.

"Hey, Kal. Where have you been?" Araeya asked trying to make conversation.

"Um, got held up in front of a big blue Titan giving me a lecture in fireteam etiquette." It was a lie, but given Kallori's track record, it was as believable as it was going to get. She didn't even look at Araeya as she spoke.

"Oh, okay. What did you do this time?" Araeya desperately wanted to lighten the mood as she could feel something wasn't right.

"Nothing. Look, Ari, I just want to get some work done, okay?" Kallori smiled before shutting the door behind her, leaving Araeya stood wondering if it was something she said.

She was a little more concerned for Kallori than normal as that night when they both went to bed, Kallori didn't sleep as close to her as she usually did. In fact, there was an ocean of bed between them and Araeya felt as though she couldn't reach Kallori.

The next few nights that followed were all too similar. Araeya began to wonder if she'd been too ambitious chasing such a renowned Warlock and her time was up.

During the weekend, Araeya was doing her weekly cookie delivery run and walked up to Ikora with her Traveler Doughnut Holes when she caught Kallori out the corner of her eye in the Bazaar talking to an Awoken Hunter named Aris.

They were laughing and giggling and from where Araeya was stood, too close for comfort. She hadn't realised her grip on Ikora's cookie box had tightened until she'd felt the cookies break inside.

_The little shit, _she thought.

Ikora looked at her funny.

"Are you alright, Araeya?" she asked. "You seem a bit tense."

Araeya shook herself out of her feelings.

"Yeah, yeah. I'm okay, actually." She looked down at the box of cookies. "I'm, uh, sorry about the box," she said as she handed it to Ikora.

"It's fine, Guardian, relax." Ikora set down the box on the table next to her and scratched her arm underneath her Bond.

"Sore arm?" Araeya remarked.

"It's a new Bond from Eris. It's made of a new material she found off-world, but it's quite itchy," she said, continuing to scratch her arm. "I want to wear it. I miss Eris a lot and this is the next best thing to having her here."

"Did she make it?"

"I would guess so. There's a lot to making a Bond and so the thought counts more than anything."

Araeya stroked her chin. A Bond… She would make Kallori a Bond. First, she needed to do some research…

She turned away from Ikora just in time to see Kallori squeeze Aris in a hug before turning to look in her direction. As their gazes met, Kallori blushed, mouthing the word '_motherfucker'_ and quickly ran away. Araeya seethed. What was she hiding?

Araeya walked across the Tower to where Eva was standing. She knew Eva would help her in her Bond creation. Back in the old Tower, Eva was the person to go to if you needed a quick fix of fabrics, emblems or shaders for your armour – she was bound to still have some advice for her.

"Guardian! Nice to see you!" Eva greeted, opening her arms in a grand welcoming gesture.

"Hi Eva," Araeya responded, smiling as always. She paused and looked down. "Hey, Eva? I need your advice."

"Just say the word, Guardian."

"Fabrics. I'm in need of fabric advice," Araeya blushed. Eva smiled.

"You have come to the right place." She turned to the many boxes she had sitting behind her tables and started rooting through them all. Araeya tilted herself to better see what Eva was doing, but she couldn't quite see what was in all the boxes. "Now," Eva began again, "what do you need? Hard-wearing? Soft? Comfortable? Bullet-proof?"

"All of the above?" Araeya said. Eva looked over her shoulder at her, confused.

"What do you need them for?"

"I'm looking to make a Bond for a Warlock that's comfortable, hard-wearing, but the fabric is soft and not going to allow bullets to go through…"

Eva thought for a moment, standing up straight with one hand to her chin.

"I can help, but I think this goes beyond what I have, here. If you can find me a robe that this Warlock has worn, I can use that."

Araeya nodded and went straight home to their bedroom to find one of Kallori's old robes – if she kept any.

She began rooting through her wardrobe, pushing aside all her cloaks and knocking over their boots at the same time. Kallori didn't keep many old robes because she loved her Shadow's Robes too much. She rarely went anywhere wearing anything else.

Eventually, Araeya came to something that wasn't any of her cloaks. Kallori's old High-Minded Complex Robes! She remembered those from when she first noticed her. How Kallori loved those old robes in their Gambit Chrome shader. From what Araeya remembered, Failsafe gave them to her as a gift for clearing the Vex out from her network.

Kallori loved the feeling those robes gave her – how soft they were, yet how durable they were. They had gone through a lot and she wore them all the time until Spider gave her some new Scorned Baron Robes. Araeya could see those also at the back of the wardrobe.

Carefully, she stole a tiny bit of fabric from the bottom of the robes and ran back out the house again, but not without bumping into Kallori at the front door.

"Where are you off to in such a hurry?" she asked, surprised. Then she thought again. "Actually, what are you even doing here at this time of day?" Kallori folded her arms and looked Araeya up and down. Without missing a beat, Araeya responded, backing herself up.

"I could ask you the same question."

Kallori huffed.

"Came back for something."

The conversation ended there as Araeya didn't want to hang around for too long near someone who continued to sneak around her and lack honesty.

She ran all the way back to Eva and handed her the fabric.

"Ooh!" she exclaimed, feeling the fabric. "I haven't seen this one in quite some time. You want to make a Bond, yes?"

Araeya nodded.

"Then let's begin."

The two of them spent a few hours making sure that Araeya had it covered, and she wasn't missing anything. They worked on it until the sun went down and Eva told Araeya to come back the following morning to run to other vendors to pick up more materials.

That night, both Araeya and Kallori lay awake in bed.

"Who was that Hunter you were with today?" Araeya asked, trying to hide her tone of accusation.

"Nobody. Just a friend." Kallori replied. Araeya scoffed.

"A friend? A Hunter friend? How come you've never mentioned her before?"

"Didn't think I had to…" Kallori rolled over so her back was facing Araeya. Araeya sat up.

"What's really going on, Kal? You've been acting strange all week…"

Silence. In that time, Araeya laid back down again, her back turned to Kallori.

Neither of them slept.

The following morning, Kallori had left in a hurry again and Araeya had just about given up trying for answers but was determined to win her back over with her hand-made Bond. Eva gave her a list of everyone to visit before she could finish.

First was Amanda Holliday for her scratch-proof paint.

Then Araeya ran to Banshee-44 for some hard casing typically used for bullets.

Araeya then needed to go to Ikora for some Bond samples that she used to own.

"What do you need these for?" she asked. Araeya smiled politely.

"A Dawning gift."

Ikora smiled in return.

Shaxx was visited for old blade scraps that his redjacks picked up from Crucible maps after they were done with. Araeya gifted him with Vanilla Blade cookies in return for not questioning her methods in the Crucible. She wished she could make him proud, but she just wasn't quite good enough.

The last person to see on the list was Zavala. Araeya had a problem with Zavala and tried her best to only see him when she absolutely needed to, but this was important. She needed a couple of Boons of Light from him. He scowled at her as he always does.

"I hope you're staying out of trouble," Zavala remarked.

Araeya simply nodded, but she nodded quickly.

"Keep that Warlock of yours on a tight leash," he said, folding his arms. Araeya looked at him in shock. How dare he! Kallori was not a pet. She was as valuable as every other Guardian in this stinking system.

She bid him farewell with a look of disgust and he sighed, shaking his head.

Hours upon hours passed and Araeya and Eva had worked hard on the Bond that Araeya would give to Kallori as their first Dawning gift together, _if _they were still together.

Eva looked over the Bond carefully, judging Araeya's handiwork with severe discrepancy. She had embroidered the letter 'K' followed by a heart on the inside and the outside she had a handful of Light in the shape of the Warlock symbol. Her stitching was a little rough, but Araeya knew it was a long shot doing something like this, anyway.

After a while, Eva smiled and handed the Bond back to Araeya.

"A job well done!" she said, pleased. "I hope whoever gets this smiles favourable upon you," and she turned to pass Araeya another Bond, identical to the one she'd just made. "Always have a spare."

Araeya smiled and turned to walk home.

"And, Guardian?" Eva called back.

Araeya stopped, nervously turning around.

"Happy Dawning." They smiled at each other one last time and Araeya went home.

Upon walking through the door, Kallori was in the kitchen and dropped something when she heard Araeya come home. This made Araeya worry that she was trying to hide something and so she bolted for the kitchen hoping to catch her in the act.

Just as she peered her head round the door, she caught Kallori shoving something in the cupboard under the sink before Araeya could see it and she turned around, her smile sheepish.

"What was that?" Araeya asked.

"Nothing." Kallori said. She tried her best not to be nervous and as she looked Araeya up and down, she noticed she was holding something. "What's that?" she asked, pointing to the Bond Araeya was holding.

Araeya looked at it and then back at Kallori. She wasn't sure what to do. Without thinking, she walked over to Kallori and handed it to her, trying to smile at the face of a liar. She placed it in her hands.

"A Dawning present – from me to you…" she was solemn in her presentation. She couldn't help it.

Kallori brought it into the light of the kitchen and studied it, feeling the softness of the fabric, admiring the handiwork.

"I've never seen anything like it…"

"That's because I made it for you. Look," and she reached into one of her empty gun holsters. "I even made a spare…" she chuckled nervously.

Kallori studied the two Bonds carefully, turning them this way and that way until she noticed the embroidery on the inside. Her eyes welled up with tears – not that she would ever let them out.

"Oh, Ari! I love them! They remind me of my old High-Minded Complex Robes! So soft!"

"Yeah. I made them for our first Dawning together, but it seems you've got someone else, anyway," Araeya said quietly and turned to walk away.

"Wait. What do you mean?"

"You and that other Hunter. You don't think I've noticed you sneaking around, hiding things from me? I'm a Hunter, too, Kal – I notice these things."

Kallori laid down one of the Bonds and held her finger up, beckoning Araeya to follow her down to the basement. She was unusually calm considering Araeya had just accused her of something as great as cheating.

Upon switching the lights on, Kallori walked over to a table, messy with weapon parts everywhere and tools scattered across the floor. In the middle was a small white box with Araeya's name on it. Araeya was nervous.

Kallori opened the box and pushed it closer to Araeya.

Inside the box was a small throwing knife in the same shader as Araeya's armour – Precursor Vex Chrome. Araeya looked at Kallori in shock as Kallori looked at the floor.

"I made the knife as a Dawning gift for our first Dawning together. The only problem was that I didn't know a thing about Hunter knives. Tamitt knew an Awoken Hunter who makes her own knives – Aris – and she scavenged the parts for me, tested them out for me and gave me tips on presentation. She'd been so helpful and when she came back after testing this one, she said it was perfect and, in the moment, I squeezed her, thankful for everything that she'd done. That's when I caught sight of you and ran to avoid questions. I wanted to keep this as secret as possible and I realise I probably didn't do that in the best way…"

Araeya was stunned. She gently picked up the knife to study it, feeling the blade and the weight, noticing how spongy the handle was. Upon turning it over, she saw an engraving on the side of the handle – the letter 'A' followed by a heart.

This time, Araeya's eyes welled up with tears, but unlike Kallori, she didn't mind crying.

"I'm sorry," she said, blubbing. "I accused you of something awful all because you had the same idea as me…"

"You had reason to. I tried to sleep separate because," and Kallori showed Araeya her hands, covered in plasters, blisters, cuts and bruises. "I didn't want to give anything away and, by holding you, I think you'd have felt them and wanted to know where they'd come from."

"What about the cupboard under the sink?" Araeya asked between breaths while she continued crying.

"Failed attempts. Knives not approved by Aris. I don't like admitting failure. Especially when that failure comes in the form of a weapon. I tried to hide them before you came home and saw them, and you made me jump..." Kallori said, blushing with a sheepish smile.

"We can use them for something, I'm sure." Araeya still looked down at her knife in her hands, admiring the craftsmanship. Kallori walked over to her and placed both her hands around Araeya's face, lifting it up to look at hers, staring into her tearful eyes and seeing the appreciation in them.

She kissed Araeya. For the first time that week they had both relaxed and felt secure with one another.

Araeya broke away and looked at Kallori.

"You're right. I'd have noticed," she giggled.

"Sorry you had to see that. I'm not usually this soft…or thoughtful, actually." Her lips disappeared realising that Araeya had seen a side to her that no-one would usually see – the caring side.

"Happy Dawning you little shit," Araeya chuckled, leaning into Kallori again.

"Happy Dawning, motherfucker."


End file.
